Flying propeller toy



I Patented Nov. 5, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT orrics FLYING PROPELLER TOY Joseph L. Friedman, Manhasset, N. Y. Application October 10, 1945, Serial No. 621,527

4 Claims. 1

This invention relates to toys and has particular reference to such devices. employing pro.- pellers adapted for free flight into. the atmosphere.

One object of the invention is to furnish a toy of the character described having improved means for flight of the propeller in a path aligned with the handle of the device or at an angle thereto, at will.

A particular object of the invention is to furnish a game of skill, Wherefore the toy includes improved means. such that the angle of flight of the propeller is partly controlled by the tension exerted on a draw string that causes rotation of the propeller.

Since the propeller is initially carried by a rotary head which is subject to friction, the speed of rotation varies with the tension of the draw string subject to the effects of friction. Hence the toy thus permits a degree of control of the direction of flight. The skill of the operator may reside, for instance, in causing maximum flight of the propeller at certain angles consistent with the setting of the toy, as hereinafter more fully described.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the specification proceeds.

With the aforesaid objects in View, the invention comprises the novel features, combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described in their preferred embodiments, pointed out in the subjoined claims, and illustrated in the annexed drawing, wherein like parts are designated by the same reference characters throughout the several views.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a toy embodying the invention. 7

Fig. 2 is a vertical central sectional View thereof with parts in elevation, showing the toy set for vertical flight of the propeller.

Fig. 3 is a View in elevation showing the toy set in a different position for angular flight of the propeller subject to the skill of the operator.

Ihe advantages of the invention as here outlined are best realized when all of its features and instrumentalities are combined, but useful embodiments may be produced involving less than the whole.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art to which the invention appertains, that the same may be incorporated in several different constructions. The accompanying drawing, therefore, is submitted merely as showing a preferred exemplification of the invention.

Referring in detail to the drawing, Ill denotes a toy embodying the invention. The same includes a handle i! made of any suitable rigid material such as metal, wood or plastic and having an axial passage l2 extending from the upper end l3 to the lower end It thereof. Slidably, frictionally fitted in the passage I2; is an element 15 of resilient. material, which may be in the nature of a wire having an upper end portion I6 and a lower headed end portion l-l.

Carried by the upper end of the element I5 is a bearing or tube l8. formed at its upper end with a flat head it. Said bearing may have a similar head 20 at its lower end, or such head may be formed on an adjacent portion of the element It. The bearing l8 may be rigidly secured to the latter as by press fitting thereinto the end portion [6.

Journaled with suitabl friction on the bearing is is a pulley head 2| retained thereon by the portions I9, 20 so that the pulley is maintained in a given position on the, rod it}; whether the same be in the low position of Fig. 2 or in the high position of Fig. 3. Wound around the pulley is a straw string 22 one end of which may be fixed thereto in any suitable manner.

Carried coaxially by the headv 2| is a propeller 23 releasably operatively engaged in any suitable manner therewith. Thus, the pulley 2! may have a pair of pins 25 therein releasably engaged in holes 25, of the propeller, so that at a proper speed the propeller is adapted to fly off from and to disengage the pulley.

The operation of the. toy will now be briefly described. The operator grasps the handle H, and with the toy adjusted as in Fig. 1, the draw string is. pulled hard to unwind it and cause a rapid rotation of the pulley and hence of the propeller 23 causing the latter .to soar into the atmosphere after disengaging. the pins, 24. The flight. of the propeller is in a path aligned with the passage 12 and the handle II, subject of course to wind currents and the like, until the momentum of the propeller substantially diminishes so that the path curves downward and the propeller falls, to be retrieved for further use. In the position of Fig. 1, the element 20 rests on the end l3 of the handle, the section l5 being completely received in passage I2 and reenforced by the handle so that no deflection of the axis of propeller can occur.

Now the finger piece I! is manipulated to push the rod [5 upwardly to any selected position as in Fig. 3; the rod is normally frictionally retained at that elevation. Initially, the pulley 2| is aligned with the handle but when the draw string 22 is pulled to rotate the pulley, the tension exerted causes the rod t5 to resiliently bend or deflect in the direction of the pull on the draw string as shown in Fig. 3. Thus the axis of the pulley and its propeller is inclined, and as rotational speed increases, the propeller flies oil into space at a like angle. The angle of flight relative to the handle is determined by two factors: the length of the section of the element I5 which is external of the handle at the top thereof, as at 26 and hence laterally unsupported by the handle; and the degree of tension exerted on the draw string 22. The greater the length of th section 26, the greater the angular deflection for the same stress, and vice versa. The draw string tension may be varied as between a hard, steady pull or an extremely powerful jerk which may achieve maximum flight. In a cheap construction such as is used in a toy, there is naturally a fair amount of friction at the bearing surface and this will afford a measure of retardation to permit the operator to gauge the tension applied.

I hus by the invention a game of skill may be played with the hand held vertically or so mounted in a support, the operator seeking to cause propeller flight at a certain angle, for example, relative .to a tree, building or telephone pole, and yet obtain a maximum flight or to cause the propeller to come within a certain range of an object. For this the operator may adjust the distance 26 as well as'the tension applied on the draw string.

-It will be appreciated that the element l5, l8 may be regarded as a one piece structure or rod resilient throughout, or as a one piece rod thicker at l8 and thinner at 15; and other changes may be made within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A .toy including a propeller element, a, rotatable element therefor, the elements having releasable interengaging means permitting the propeller element to travel away from its companion element when the latter causes rotation of the propeller element, a draw string element wound around the rotatable element for causing rotation thereof, a handle, a member having a stem portion on which the rotatable element is journalecl, the member having a resilient elongated a pull on the draw string for causing rotation of the rotatableelement and travel of the propeller at variable angles, the said stem portion comprising a, bearing for the rotatable element whereby the latter is held against movement along the member.

2. A toy having a draw string operated pulley head releasably carrying a propeller rota-ted thereby so that the propeller is adapted to fly off .the head, an elongated member, and a handle of rigid material having a longitudinal bore, thev member having upper and lower respectively relatively rigid and flexible sections, with the pulley head journaled on the upper sec-tion and the lower section being fitted in said bore for frictionally sliding into and out of the bore .to expose different lengths of the flexible section, at will, outside of the handle to permit different degrees of deflection in response to a varying pull on the draw string, to .thus cause the rigid section to assume difierent angles for angular flight of the propeller, the pulley head being engaged by the rigid section against relative axial movement, the flexible section being adapted to be so fully received in said bore as to reduce said reflection substantially to zero to cause flight of the propeller in substantial alignment with said bore.

3. A toy having a draw-string operated rotatable pulley head, a propeller releasably operatively carried by said head so as to fly off therefrom upon rotation of the propeller, a handle of rigid material having a longitudinal passage, and a rod like member, the head being journaled thereon, means to maintain the head journaled at an upper end of the member without permitting relative axial movement of the head, the rest of the member constituting a section slidably frictionally fitted in said passage with the handle stiffening the member, the member being Y adapted to be partly advanced from the handle to free a part of said section which part is resilient and adapted to be angularly deflected by a pull of the draw string in causing'rotation of said head, the upper end portion of the member being unaffected by the resilient deflection whereby the head is freely rotatable at difieren-t angles.

4. A toy having a draw-string operated, r0- tatable pulley head releasably operatively carrying a propeller coaxially therewith so that the propeller is adapted upon rotation to fly on from said head, a handle having an axial passage therethrough, a rod of resilient material extending through said passage so as to project from both ends of the handle, one end of the rod constituting a, finger piece, a bearing of rigid material for the head fixedly secured on the other end of the rod, the rod being of such length that it is frictionally movable in said passage to move the hearing toward and away from the handle and when the bearing is moved away from the handle the adjacent part of the rod is free of the handle for resilient angular deflection in respect to a pull ofthe draw string.

JOSEPH L. FRIEDMAN. 

